Dr. Robert Burk Receives Distinguished Historian Award From the Ohio Academy of History

Dr. Robert F. Burk, the Arthur and Eloise Barnes Cole Distinguished Professor in American History, has been awarded the Distinguished Historian Award for 2006 by the Ohio Academy of History. The award represents the Academy’s highest honor, signifying excellence across one’s career.

The Academy’s Distinguished Historian Award honors an historian whose teaching and scholarship, including substantial publications, transcend specialized fields and is of interest to educated persons beyond the discipline of history.

The author of five books and numerous publications, Dr. Burk’s scholarship has focused on the Civil Rights legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the DuPont family in national politics, and labor relations in American baseball. His books include:

Much More than a Game: Players, Owners and American Baseball, 1921 to Present. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2001. The book was a finalist for the Seymour Medal (Society for American Baseball Research), Dave Moore Award (Elysian Fields Quarterly), and nominated for the North American Society for Sports History Award, the Herbert Hoover Book Award and the Hagley Prize.

Never Just a Game: Players, Owners and American Baseball to 1920. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1994. The book received the Society for American Baseball Macmillan Award for Research.

The Corporate State and the BrokerState: the DuPonts and American National Politics, 1925 – 1940. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990.

The Eisenhower Administration and Black Civil Rights. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 1984. Second Printing, 1986.

Dr. Burk was nominated for this award by his colleagues who, in their nomination said, “In both his teaching and his scholarship, Bob Burk has crossed the threshold between the world of academics and the public’s love of history in a way few other historians have successfully done.”

“This award is a fitting tribute to an outstanding scholar,” said Muskingum College President Anne C. Steele, “His standard of excellence in both scholarship and teaching truly represents the academic values of Muskingum.”

This award is not the first time the Academy has recognized Muskingum’s commitment to academic and scholarly excellence. Since 1977, Associate Professor of History Dr. Bil Kerrigan, Professor Emerita of History Dr. Lorle Porter, Professor Emeritus of History Dr. Taylor Stults and the late Dr. David R. Sturtevant have received recognition from the Academy for their individual achievements in scholarship, teaching and service.

The Academy is a professional society bringing together teachers, scholars, public historians and students interested in all fields of history. It seeks to promote the development and dissemination of historical knowledge among the citizens and students of Ohio. The Academy promotes high standards of historical scholarship and teaching in the state's schools, colleges and museums.